Call me old fashion, but I still truly believe in the courtship between a man and a woman. I’m vested in the ideal that a man is supposed to take the necessary steps to demonstrate to a woman, beyond a shadow of doubt, that he has more than a casual interest. And then the woman should be fully prepared to either accept his advances towards getting to know her better, or politely let him know that she’s not the woman for him. I understand that many, many women no longer think of relationships in this way, but believe that they should pursue a man to the degree that men used to pursue women. At the end of the day, people will do what it is they want to do, but we have to ask ourselves as women, if we’ve lost something far more valuable by compromising God’s standard in this area.
I think we have. Self-worth isn’t something you can cultivate or advance by being assertive towards men. When we truly value ourselves, men will respond, and the right man will respond by doing everything in his power to be next to us. You can’t put a price on this. It’s golden, and it’s the way God set things up.
In Matthew 16: 19 (NLT), Jesus Christ said, “And I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. Whatever you forbid on earth will be forbidden in heaven, and whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven.” Take a moment and think about how God’s Kingdom works. There is no struggle, no striving, and no drama. Everything there runs off faith in God. No one has a need of which Heavenly Father does not attend to before they recognize the need. Angelic beings are constantly singing God’s praises, because they know that there isn’t an activity more wonderful than praising Heavenly Father. Heaven is a place more extraordinary than our imaginations can hold, and Jesus Christ has given us the keys to its Kingdom.
The keys are no good to the dead. They can’t use them, but we’re living, and we can use the keys to tap into heaven’s resources in a dynamically spiritual way. Our Lord and Savior is schooling us on what happens when we set our minds and hearts in accordance with God’s Will. We’re unstoppable when we know who we are in Christ, and we begin to act like the ambassadors that he has made us.
When we begin to make our relationships with God a priority by meditating on His Word daily, praying more, and learning to be led by the Spirit, we will grow and mature spiritually. Growth in the Spirit means that we rely on his inner resources more than we do the outer resources of the world.
If we’re keeping it real, many of us choose the way of modern convenience because we think it is more expedient than growing in the spirit. We can whip out our cell phones, send a text or an email, and start an online relationship in less time than it takes to shower. We’d rather do this than to work on our souls. We lack the patience required to fast, pray, and meditate on God’s goodness. We don’t want to wait until He activates that part of us in the Spirit that causes us to step in alignment with the flow of His blessings.
There’s something about watching two people take vows before all of their family and friends, to love each other and spend the rest of their lives together; through good times and bad times. It’s just a beautiful thing to see, but too often we’re watching the union take place and then seeing it fall apart a year later. What can we learn from this? One of the things we learn is that in the end, we will not lose out by letting Jesus Christ have the steering wheel in this area of our lives. We don’t need to forgo our strength in the Lord out of a fleshly need or desire for comfort and pleasure. Know your worth, and let the Lord demonstrate it to you through a good man that equals your capacity to love according to God’s standard. When you know who you are in Christ, and you desire to be a blessing, you deserve to be treated with the same respect and honor that you are lovingly prepared to give.■
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
“If You Know Your Worth, He Should To” written by Kim Times, edited by Reverend Fran Mack for Sundie Morning Sistas ©2016. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! SMS is dedicated to inspiring and encouraging Christian Women through the Word of God.